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Alec really wondered how he had gotten himself into such a mess.
What had initially been an early end to his Consul duties for the day and meant to be a romantic evening surprise for his husband, had resulted in him chasing after a shapeshifting demon who had tried to lure in a teenager roughly the same age as Max.
His fatherly instinct in combination with his excellent perception as a Shadowhunter had prompted him to immediately step in which now led him to sprint after the demon through the dark alleys of Manhattan.
“I’m somewhere in Greenwich Village,” he panted into his phone when he followed the demon around a corner and away from the busy streets. He quickly scanned the illuminated buildings. A fond smile pulled on his lips. “I just ran past the Beauty Bar.”
Breathy laughter rang through the speaker. “Don’t try to distract me with romantic nostalgia,” Magnus chided him fondly. “Ah. Clary says Jace and Simon are on their way. They shouldn’t take long.”
Alec acknowledged it with a hum when he followed the demon around another corner. And promptly found himself at a dead end. Alone.
“Huh,” he mumbled and scanned the area with a frown.
“What’s wrong?” Magnus asked with a worried notch to his voice. “Alec?”
Alec cleared his throat. “I rounded a corner to a dead end, and the demon is not here,” he muttered, eyebrows furrowed when he turned left and right.
“Are you sure he wasn’t of the flying type?”
Alec shook his head before he remembered that Magnus couldn’t see him, “Yeah. He’s definitely one of the human shape shifters.” He squinted his eyes when he took in the buildings around him. None of them looked remotely inhabited, thus providing a perfect hideout. Now if only he found some kind of entrance …
“Jace and Simon reached Greenwich, apparently,” Magnus informed him softly. Alec hummed when his eyes skimmed over a badly concealed set of stairs. He got hold of his seraph blade and silently moved closer.
“Alec?” Magnus breathed. “Talk to me.”
A faint smile tugged on his lips. “I’m here, don’t worry.” He halted in front of the steps that led down to a weathered wooden door. “Muriel,” he breathed and his seraph blade sprang to life with a soft glow.
“What are you –“
“There’s a set of stairs and a door,” he interrupted Magnus and tentatively set his foot on a step.
“Alexander Gideon Lightwood-Bane,” Magnus chided immediately, “I can’t believe that you, of all people, are about to do something reckless.”
“Magnus-“
“Since when do I have to be the voice of reason? I thought that was your forte!”
“Magnus,” Alec tried to interrupt again while still climbing down the stairs.
“You’re supposed to analyze before you react, not act on instinct like the rest of us. Jace and Simon are literally around the corner, can’t you just-“
“Sayangku,” Alec said more firmly and immediately had Magnus’s full attention.
“Not fair,” he breathed and Alec could easily picture Magnus halting midstep, looking flustered and pleased at the same time upon hearing the Indonesian endearment.
“I’ll be fine, Magnus. I’m just taking a closer look at the door since I’m pretty sure that’s the only way the demon could have escaped to.”
Magnus took a deep breath at the other end of the line. “Nephilim,” he sighed and Alec laughed softly while climbing down the stairs.
At the end he found himself in front of the weathered door and at eye level with faded wooden lettering.
ING IS ER
He frowned. It was obvious that a few letters had disappeared over time and that the building had been abandoned for just as long. His eyes scanned the door more closely. “There are fresh traces on the ground,” he muttered and crouched down. “Someone’s definitely been here recently.”
Magnus swallowed in his ear. “Your backup is close.”
“I know,” he breathed and tugged his phone between his ear and shoulder. With his now free hand he reached for the door handle and carefully pressed it down. It moved smoothly and immediately gave way.
“Alec, you really shouldn’t-“
“I’ll just take a look inside. I promise,” he assured when he tentatively pushed the door further open. Darkness and silence greeted him. The glow of his seraph blade was barely strong enough to illuminate the threshold.
Alec frowned. Something was odd about this place. He couldn’t pinpoint it, but something was definitely off. “This is weird,” he mumbled and carefully set a foot over the threshold.
“What’s wrong?” Magnus asked anxiously.
Alec’s frown deepened. “I’m not sure,” he muttered when he took another step forward. “Something’s off about this place.”
“Alec,” Magnus mumbled at the same time as two voices called out for him, “ALEC!”
“Down the stairs!” he called back and took another careful step forward. A soft electric spark moved along the hairs on his arms and tickled the nape of his neck. “What the-“ he breathed before he was pulled forward.
“What happened? Alec? Alec!” echoed through the darkness when his phone dropped onto the ground.
*****
Alec held tightly onto his seraph blade when he was pulled through a wafting mass. It felt a lot like moving through a portal, yet it was entirely different. And it definitely was different from any portal known to Shadowhunters.
His train of thought was cut shortly when he lurched and suddenly dropped onto a concrete floor. A surprised “Oof” fell from his lips when he fell onto his ass, his seraph blade slithering over the ground upon the impact.
Breathing heavily he shook his head to compose himself, jumped onto his feet and regained hold of his blade. He frowned when he realized that the angelic glow had dimmed and flickered alarmingly.
“Ok,” he muttered and took a deep breath. He scanned his surroundings and found himself, again, in front of a wooden door. Not weathered this time, but well used and plastered with rainbow colored stickers and pamphlets. What had before been just the remains of a name, had now become KINGFISHER.
“Another dimension, of course,” he huffed and shook his head. “Great way to keep your promise,” he muttered and hoped his silent apology could reach Magnus in any way. And that he would find a way back as soon as possible.
With another deep breath he squared his shoulders, tightened the grip on his seraph blade and carefully opened the door. A mixture of loud animated voices, laughter and music immediately wavered through the creak and intensified when he pushed the door further open.
Alec gulped and blinked rapidly at the fluorescent light. Instinctively he held the blade closer in front of his body when he turned left and right to scan the room. It looked a lot like a bar, people gathered around tables and some scattered around what seemed to be a dance floor with an unoccupied stage. Or rather presumably unoccupied with all the instruments gathered around a microphone.
He took a step back to scan the other side of the room when he promptly bumped into a solid body.
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to stand in the doorway,” a deep voice with a warm timbre said softly and apologetically.
‘Must be a Downworlder if they can see through my glamour,’ Alec thought when he slowly turned around. When his eyes fell onto a large man he actually had to raise his head, as he was at least a head taller than himself. He had short red hair, pale skin and a neat stubble. ‘No, a mundane who probably has the Sight,’ he revised and took a step back. “No, I’m sorry. I didn’t look where I was going,” he said and flashed a reassuring smile.
The other’s lips twitched into a hesitant smile, hazel eyes darting around anxiously. They widened a little when they dropped to Alec’s seraph blade.
“Um,” he gulped, lips trembling with a nervous smile, “Interesting … requisite, I guess?”
Alec blinked. Well, he really shouldn’t be surprised that a mundane wouldn’t know what a seraph blade was. It probably looked like any other sword to the red haired. He was about to reply when he was beat to it.
“Hey handsome, no weapons in here,” was called from the bar. The blond bartender looked at him skeptically, a thin eyebrow raised over his glasses when he crossed his arms. “And I really don’t care whether they are for some cosplay, convention or whatever you might be up to. The only weapons aloud are made of words or the one in your pants.”
Alec spluttered at the bluntness and felt heat rise to his cheeks. This man was even more blunt than Magnus in his more flirty moments.
The bartender shifted his attention from Alec to the large man. “You want a refill, Ryan?”
The large man blinked, his eyes darting from the blond to Alec and back again. “Um, yeah,” he mumbled, clearing his throat when he shifted his enormous body a little more towards the bar. “And one for Fabian, please.” His eyebrows furrowed in concentration. “He wanted a Scott Hunter, I think.”
The bartender laughed in amusement. “You think?”
A blush crept over pale cheeks. “I’m certain,” the large man – Ryan, as Alec recalled – mumbled and shuffled nervously with his right foot, his shoulders rising lightly towards his ears as he ducked his head.
“Just teasing,” the blond replied with a warm smile and got down to work on the other’s order.
Alec wondered for a second whether the bartender might be a Downworlder, or even the shapeshifting demon that had led him into this dimension, but it appeared that he simply seemed to have the Sight as well. Which wasn’t unusual at all, really.
He frowned when he felt an inquiring gaze on him. He raised his eyebrow and locked his eyes with Ryan’s hazel ones.
Ryan blinked heavily, the blush on his cheeks deepening. “I … sorry for staring,” he muttered, one of his large hands rubbing nervously over the nape of his neck. “It’s just …”
“Just what?” Alec asked, and being aware that his seraph blade made the other nervous, he deactivated his weapon and stuffed it back into his belt. Ryan’s eyes widened in surprise, and as he seemed tongue tied at the ordeal, Alec said a little bit more firmly, “Just what?”
Ryan blinked. “Oh, um,” he cleared his throat, “I’m not very familiar with … pop culture, but ...“
Alec frowned. “Pop culture?” he mumbled softly to himself. It rang a bell somewhere deep in his mind, but he couldn’t pinpoint where he last had come across the term.
“Well, uh,” Ryan muttered in an attempt to reply and flinched when he bartender called his name.
“Ryan! Your drinks are ready.”
Ryan blinked and slowly strolled over to the bar. “Thank you, Kyle,” he mumbled with a soft smile.
“Anything for you, Teddy bear,” the blond said with a wide grin and winked. If possible, Ryan’s face got even redder than his hair.
“Stop flirting with my man, Kyle. Or do you want me to get Eric to deal with you?” a velvety voice flittered from Alec’s right side. It sounded warm, and very determined and belonged to a short man with a very slim body. He was quite the opposite to the large man in every aspect. Flamboyant was the first thing that came to Alec’s mind, more than a head smaller than himself and undoubtedly pretty. And he most likely would become Magnus’s new favorite person instantly if they got the chance to meet.
Kyle beamed. “I certainly don’t mind, Fab. In fact, I think I’ll see if he can help me with, you know, a refill.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and quickly abandoned the bar under amused giggles from the slim man who stepped closer to Ryan.
Curious brown eyes swept fleetingly over Alec before they fell onto the other’s large back. They softened immediately in adoration. “You good, babe?”
Ryan’s head turned back and Alec gulped at the look of pure love that had come over the other’s face. It reminded him of the precious moments when Magnus looked at him like that when he was certain that Alec was too deep into whatever simple task to even notice.
An adoring smile came over Ryan’s lips. “Yeah,” was his simple reply and he subconsciously leaned a little down when the smaller one planted a chaste kiss across his stubble whilst accepting his drink.
“Who’s your new acquaintance by the way?” the slim man asked and turned his attention back on Alec. A sensual smile spread over his pink colored lips and his brown sparkled in the light of the bar when he extended his hand, “Fabian Salah. I assume you stumbled into my husband and he apologized for standing in the way.”
In a mesmerized stupor Alec extended his hand as well. He was pretty sure that the other was a mundane, but for the split of a second he wondered whether he had come across a very sensual specimen of faeries. He blinked and shook his head to regain his composure. “Alec,” he replied and gently shook hands with Fabian.
Fabian’s delicate eyebrows furrowed. “Huh, you’re pretty committed to your cosplay it seems.”
Alec retrieved his hand in confusion. “I’m sorry, what?”
“Well, with your tattoo and gear I just assumed-“ Fabian muttered before he was interrupted by a loud voice.
“Price, Fabian, why are you lingering in entrance? Is my special day, come back and celebrate,” a heavy accented voice slurred before a large arm was draped over Fabian’s shoulder. A mop of golden brown curls appeared between Ryan and Fabian, the muscular man grinning at them with a lopsided smile.
Fabian laughed and nudged the curly haired. “Who says we’re not celebrating?”
“Ah,” the other wiggled with his eyebrows, “you have other private celebration.”
Ryan groaned and ducked his head. “Seriously, Rozanov?”
This got a deep laughter from the curly haired and a snort from Fabian. Alec watched on and wondered for a moment, in what kind of dimension he had actually stumbled into and how he was supposed to get back into his own. Oh, and he really shouldn’t forget about the shape shifting demon now that he thought about it.
“You found a new friend?” The heavy accent pulled Alec out of his thoughts.
“Oh, Alec here probably stumbled into Ryan,” Fabian explained, his head tilting in thought. “He actually reminds me of this urban fantasy TV show with Matthew Daddario and Harry Shum Junior.”
“Aaah!” Ryan exclaimed in realization and gave Alec another, more analyzing look.
Alec frowned. “What are you talking about?” he asked and eyed the three men warily. Not only that a fourth mundane was capable of the Sight, now they even compared him to people from a TV show? To say he was more than confused was an understatement.
“What he says, yes,” the curly haired agreed with him and nodded.
“It’s pop culture, Ilya. Knowing you and Shane, you probably rarely watch anything that is not a documentation or hockey related,” Fabian replied laughing and moved over to Ryan’s side.
“Ah, nerd stuff, yes,” apparently-Ilya nodded solemnly and turned towards a table that was gathered by a large group and placated with festive decoration. “Hayes, we need help from nerd expert!” he called and had everyone’s attention immediately.
A man of Magnus’s height with blond curly hair rose from his seat and looked over. He looked cute, Alec had to admit, and a little excited. “What do you need to know, Cap?”
Ilya’s head whipped back to Fabian, “What was that again?”
Fabian snickered into Ryan’s side and even the large man chuckled softly. “Do you know that urban fantasy TV show with Matthew Daddario and Harry Shum Junior? It was something about hybrids, half angel and half human and all that supernatural stuff.”
Alec’s eyes had widened. “By the angel,” he breathed and nearly had a heart attack when the blond curly haired immediately called across the room, “Shadowhunters!”
“Yes! That’s the one!” Fabian called out with a broad smile, nearly jumping as high as Ryan’s shoulder.
To Alec’s horror a blond teenager roughly the same age as Rafe leaned on the table, his blue eyes wide behind his glasses. “Wait, you know Shadowhunters?”
The one with blond curls laughed. “Of course, Haasy. I’m more surprised that you know it. It’s at least as old as you are.”
The teenager frowned. “It’s from 2016. I was born in 2000.” Oh, not a teenager then and even older than Rafe.
The other pointed at him, snickering. “Exactly,” which got him an annoyed huff.
Alec looked on in confusion when bickering erupted around the table, amused laughter mingling among the voices and his heart literally stopped when names were dropped that definitely shouldn’t be known to strangers in any dimension. How on earth was his personal real life the plot on some dimensional TV show?!
“What’s going on?” a soft voice asked and pulled Alec out of his thoughts.
“Shaaaane, moy lyubimiy,” Ilya cooed and turned towards the man that had appeared behind him with an endearing smile. A fond smile tugged on pink lips when Ilya wrapped his arms around the other’s smaller form. Alec could make out jet black hair that was messily pulled back into a bun and dark eyes before Ilya’s shoulder sprang into view.
“I wasn’t even gone for so long. Did you really miss me that much?” the black haired chuckled whilst wrapping his arms around Ilya’s waist.
“Always,” Ilya sighed heavily and buried his face in Shane’s neck which drew another laugh from him.
“Why is it always me who has to see you two like this,” Ryan mumbled into his glass before he sipped on it. Other than Fabian chuckling next to him he was completely ignored.
“Shane.” There was an inquiring notch to Ilya’s voice.
“Hm?”
“Why you looking confused towards restrooms?” Ilya asked before he drew back with a scandalized gasp, “You forgot to flush?”
Shane shoved him hard with an exasperated “No, you asshole!” He crossed his arms with an annoyed huff. “I am confused because I saw someone who looked a lot like Dallas Kent but I know that that isn’t even possible.”
As much as the entire scenario confused Alec, his attention immediately perked up at those words. “Why wouldn’t that be possible?” he asked and had the black haired look at him in surprise.
“Oh, I didn’t know we had company,” Shane mumbled and a soft blush crept over his cheeks. Alec was able to make out string of freckles spreading along his cheekbones.
“Is just Alex. He ran into Price or something,” Ilya waved him off nonchalantly and turned to look at Alec over his shoulder. “Kent is homophobic goblin. Wouldn’t set foot into a gay bar.”
“Isn’t he still locked away?” Fabian wondered and by the looks of it, this Dallas Kent wasn’t very liked among the other men. Well, considering that he apparently was homophobic, Alec could easily relate why he wouldn’t be liked much.
On another note, if this Dallas Kent was currently locked away somewhere, but Shane claimed to have seen someone looking like him, then the possibility was very high that the other had come across the shape shifting demon that had led Alec here in the first place.
He hadn’t paid the enfolding discussion any attention and when he cleared his throat, the four men startled and looked at him with wide eyes. He felt his face heating at their stares. “I- uh,” he swallowed. “Where can I find the restrooms?”
Shane was the first to regain his composure. He pointed behind him towards a corridor. “This way. At the end of the corridor you’ll find the men’s restroom on the left.”
“Thanks,” Alec muttered and tentatively passed the group on his way to the corridor. He could still feel their scrutinizing gaze on his back and refrained from getting hold of his seraph blade while they were still watching him.
Once he was out of sight, he got hold of his weapon and took a deep calming breath. “Muriel,” he whispered and, thankfully, the seraph blade came to life albeit still with a rather dim shimmer that was barely noticeable in the light-flooded corridor.
He carefully moved along the tiled floor and halted mid-step when a door on the left creaked open. A mop of blond hair came into view, followed by a short figure that tiptoed out into the corridor. The short man froze immediately once his blue-grey eyes fell onto Alec.
Alec immediately registered the yellowish aura that wafted around the figure and tightened the grip on his seraph blade. Neither of them moved, their eyes locked in an intense gaze.
“Don’t even think about it,” Alec demanded when he registered the tiniest flicker of the other’s eyes darting to the right. He cursed under his breath when an arrogant smile spread over thin lips and the demon dashed across the floor into another room. Alec didn’t think twice and immediately sprinted after him.
“I’m getting too old for this shit,” he grumbled when he darted through the door that led him into the women’s restroom … and promptly into another darkness.
*****
It was possible that Alec shrieked when he literally fell from the sky … and crashed into a solid body. Once again.
“Oof,” the body beneath him exclaimed upon impact and, bless the Angel, it sounded very familiar to Alec’s ears.
“Jace!” he cried in relief when he rolled from his parabatai. The blond huffed when he scrambled back onto his feet.
“Glad to have you back,” Jace said with a grin when he pulled Alec up. “Would’ve been nice though if your husband didn’t try to kill my back in the process.”
Alec gulped. “Magnus is here?”
Jace acknowledged it with a snort. “Who do you think managed to get you out of the other dimension?”
A small smile tugged on Alec’s lips, and faltered in the split of a second. “Wait, the shape shifting demon. Did he come back as well?”
Jace waved him off. “We just took care of him before you knocked me off my feet.”
Alec blushed. “Sorry for that.” Jace just grinned.
“I sent him back to Hell.” Of course Alec recognized that familiar warm timbre. His eyes softened when he turned towards Magnus who looked him over equally annoyed and worried. His lips were set to a thin line and his eyebrows were furrowed.
“Uh, I guess we’re not needed anymore,” Simon muttered and sheepishly waved at Alec.
Jace barked a laugh. “Indeed. Good luck, Consul.” He patted Alec on the back with a smirk before he headed back to the busy streets of Greenwich Village. Simon trotted after him.
Magnus huffed before Alec even had the chance to say something. “Don’t do that ever again.” His voice was so soft and vulnerable that it took Alec only two strides to wrap his arms around his husband. “Promise,” he mumbled into Magnus’s neck and brushed his lips softly against his skin. Magnus sighed and held him tighter against his chest.
“Tell me something about this other dimension,” Magnus asked later when they strolled through the streets, hand in hand, on their way home.
Alec hummed in thought, his thumb drawing lazy circles over the back of Magnus’s hand. “Apparently our reality was the plot of some kind of TV show over there. It was a little frightening that they knew our names and stuff.”
Magnus snickered. “I kind of can imagine.” He snuggled his head against Alec’s shoulder. “What else?”
Alec hesitated for a moment. “Somehow everyone was gay, well, yeah it was a gay bar but …”
Magnus shifted his head a little and gazed at his jaw. “But?”
“I don’t know,” Alec mumbled. His eyes dropped onto their linked hands and he brushed his finger over Magnus’s wedding ring. “It was weird but also, like … a little comforting?”
Magnus hummed softly. “That does sound nice.”
Alec smiled. “Yeah, it kind of does.”